Thursday, September 06, 2012

Wow, it has been a little over 3 months since my last post!? Wow. Sorry it has been so long. I ended up taking a couple of months off to have a bit of prepping vacation. Not that I ever really stopped picking up good information for prepping. I just needed a break for a while. It is easy to burn out from doing this all the time. This summer I decided to hold things off for a while instead of going over board. I know that sounds a little "grasshopper-ish" but I have been working on this for the past few years.

What have I been doing the last few months you ask? Well I had a nice little vacation with my pack... I mean family this summer. Can't pass up a family trip for a week of fun. Hell this summer has been great. And I still got to use some of my prep skills even while I was on break. I finally got to put my wineskin bota bag to use when my family and I went for bike rides during this hot summer. Also I did not pass up the chance to visit a native american museum and store to see what goodies they had. I actually ended up in front of their book rack spending 5 minutes copying down the titles of some really good instructional books. What they had covered leather making, cooking, medicinal plants, and native ritual ceremonies. I even ended up buying a cookbook later when I got home for cheaper than what they had it for. At the end of this article I will have a list of the book names I wrote for you guys to check out. Some of those books, If I get them I will review. This has kind of started me down the path of looking into the old ways of how things where done. I ended up finding old and new documentaries and some "reality shows" of doing things from times past. So far I am loving shows like 1940s House, If Walls Could Talk: A History of the Home, Victorian Farm, Edwardian Farm, and Frontier House. The best thing is most of these shows are on DVD or in book format. I personally believe that the old ways of doing things should not be forgotten, and should be practiced when possible.

I also went to the state fair too. It gave me a chance to speak with master gardeners and I found out that there are gardening classes in my county. I got some great square foot gardening ideas for my balcony. I got to check out new camping gear and I am thinking of getting a Duluth pack for my Vehicle Kit. I also gave out information to folks on prepping too. It was great talking with some of the vendors. Oh and I nommed some tasty fair food. Deep fried apple pie with cinnamon ice cream? TO DIE FOR!

Also, this was the summer of facing my fears. For the first time I drove long distance... alone over 200 miles round trip. That I felt it still was a big deal for me, though it was the second time I have done a trip like that. The first time I drove it was quite a bit longer.

I also do not like being around crowds, but I chose to go to the state fair. I also never really took the transit system by myself before, again, with the state fair I learned to use the park and ride system. I also used my map skills when I was at the fair and learning to locate places that I wanted to go. I don't like traveling to the big city. The big city was where the state fair was. In years past, I went with my family, this time I chose to go alone and it was still fun. I just kept my eyes open, my wits about me, and wrote the more important information down (like the transit bus number and pick up location).

Hows about that for an update?

Prepping is serious business, but it should also be fun and allow you to have fun. I know it did for me.